Glossary

Faulty sensory appreciation

‘Sensory perception’ or ‘sensory appreciation’ refers to the information we get from the entirety of our senses. This includes information from both our external senses and our internal senses (our kinaesthetic/proprioceptive, vestibular, and interoceptive senses). This sensory information includes information from our environment and information about our physical condition and the way we are using our bodies and our whole selves (our use) in relation to our environment.

‘Faulty sensory perception’ or ‘faulty sensory appreciation’ comes about when we do not receive accurate sensory feedback from our environment or about our physical condition, or when we interpret that information inaccurately. This is actually a very common occurrence. It leads to an unreliable sense of sensation or feeling, where what feels right is actually wrong.

As FM Alexander saw it, “incorrect sensory experiences” resulted in “misdirected activities”. He wrote:

“The conception likewise of what is happening within ourselves is dependent upon impressions which come to us through the sense of feeling (sensory appreciation) upon which we must rely for guidance in carrying out our daily activities. When our sensory appreciation is deceptive, as is the case more or less with everyone today, the impressions we get through it are deceptive also.… When a certain degree of misuse has been reached, the deceptiveness of these impressions reaches a point where they can mislead us into believing that WE ARE DOING SOMETHING WITH SOME PART OF OURSELVES WHEN ACTUALLY WE CAN BE PROVED TO BE DOING SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT. This is equally true of things we believe we think, which more often than not are things we feel.”

Further stressing the importance of accurate sensory perception, Alexander stated, “sensory appreciation conditions conception – you can’t know a thing by an instrument that is wrong”. He also said, “correct apprehension and reliable sensory appreciation go hand in hand”.

One example of inaccurate sensory perception can be seen in the person who habitually slumps badly. Their slumped position feels right, even though they can see they have ‘bad posture’ when they look in a mirror. The reverse also occurs. When someone who slumps first comes to an Alexander lesson and they are helped to improve their use, they may experience their new way of standing and sitting as feeling wrong. (Note because our usual sensations and feelings feel right, learning the Alexander technique without a teacher is extremely difficult. When on our own, even with books, we tend to continually lapse back into our habitual misuse. This is because it just feels normal and right to us, while the new improved use of our bodies feels wrong.)

In Alexander lessons, with a teacher’s help, a person is slowly re-educated. As a result, they gain a more accurate sensory perception and increased understanding about their use over time.

A person’s sensory appreciation or perception informs their felt sense of bodily knowing. (This is a wholistic knowing made up of a combination of awareness of external stimuli, internal bodily states, emotions, intuition, sensory appreciation, and embodiment.)

Find out more about the senses and sensory processing.

See other glossary terms and definitions.